Orr's Goal Voted Nhl Top Moment

There are three events every New Englander remembers vividly, two with heavy hearts and one with unrestrained glee.

One: The day President Kennedy was shot.

Two: The night Mookie Wilson's grounder trickled through Bill Buckner's legs at first base, costing the Red Sox the 1986 World Series.

Three: The day Bobby Orr scored the overtime goal to win the 1970 Stanley Cup, the Bruins' first championship in 29 years.

Orr's dramatic, acrobatic goal, frozen in time in a famous photograph with Orr soaring horizontally over the Boston Garden ice, was named the greatest moment in NHL history in a vote of 400 writers and broadcasters, sponsored by Master-Card.

"I've seen more spectacular goals in this year's playoffs," Orr said this weekend at the Sheraton Bal Harbour, where a luncheon honoring the moment was held on Sunday. "But I'm thrilled it was chosen. It was a great moment for the team. I never get tired of seeing it. It seems like it was yesterday."

The goal came in Game 4 to complete Boston's sweep of St. Louis. Orr made one of his dazzling rushes, dumped the puck to Derek Sanderson behind the net, then cut to the crease. Sanderson fed it perfectly, and Orr beat goalie Glenn Hall between his legs while he slid across the crease.

Orr went flying after he was tripped by defenseman Noel Picard.

"I jumped a little, too, after I saw it went in," Orr said.

Orr, considered by some to be the best defenseman to play the game, splits his time between Boston, where he has business interests, including the launching of a minor-league hockey team in Lowell, and Jupiter, where he carries a 7-handicap at Jupiter Hills Golf Club.